God Do That Which You Said (Sermon #1 Camp Meeting 2024 Wes Brown)

Psalm 8 and the Question of Human Smallness

All of this and so the Lord laid on my heart Psalm number 8 first of all and what we what I'm going to present to you tonight are two questions to keep in your heart throughout all of this and I pray for the rest of our lives.

Two questions on how we think about all of these things. Psalm number 8 begins this way. Oh Lord our Lord. Or Oh Yahweh our Lord. How majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens out of the mouth mouth of babies and infants.

You have established strength because of your foes to still the enemy and the Avenger. I think Psalm number 8 is so incredible. Amazing it those that's first phrase really is the psalm in miniature. Oh Yahweh our Lord.

That astounding truth frames the entire song. The God of the universe the one true God. And David knows his name. And not only does he know his name but he that's his God. He worships his God and his God is the one true God.

Oh Lord our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth. And a man like David who grew up shepherding sheep and who spent a lot of time on the run out in the wilderness it's not hard to imagine perhaps a night waking up and seeing the rolling hills there in Israel seeing the canopy of stars stretching out above them and sitting down to say Oh Yahweh our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth.

For in creation he displays his might his unsurpassable glory. You have set your glory above the heavens. God has revealed in the psalm. He reveals himself in all creation. He sets his glory above the heavens.

Man. And in all of our technology and all of our advancement we're still aiming for Mars. Maybe probably not. God's glory is displayed in the heavens as they're stretched out upon the billions upon billions of stars and the billions of galaxies all throughout the universe.

And his glory is above that cannot be surpassed cannot be equaled or approached. And you think about the vantage point we have as we with these little eyes gaze up and we're overwhelmed at the tens of thousands of stars that we can behold not even aware of the billions beyond them that he knows by name.

Oh Lord our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth he displays his glory displays his might. And in verse 2 he displays his unassailable strength out of the mouth of babies and infants. You have established strength because of your foes to still the enemy and the Avenger.

We have three enemies that crop up in this psalm which seems laughable that this same Creator God would have enemies or those who would seek to come against him. And in fact that's exactly what we find in Psalm number two.

You know there's that old trite phrase that gets thrown around. If you want to hear God laugh tell him your plans. Anyone ever heard that. Okay. Well that's not. That's biblical if you finish it because in Psalm 2 God laughs at the plot of the kings and his foes.

So if you want to hear God laugh tell him your plans to thwart his rule and his sovereignty. He has these enemies that crop up and how does he defeat them. How does he display his might out of the mouth of babies and infants.

We can see this in Matthew chapter 21. You're not to turn there but as Jesus enters in and they're saying Hosanna blessed as he comes in the name of the Lord. And the Pharisees the ones with power the ones with learning the ones with earthly might it would seem say hey aren't you gonna correct them.

They're wrong. You're not the Messiah. You're not the Son of God. And yet whose word prevailed. Was it the learned Pharisees or those babes and infants who cried out rightly that Jesus is the Son of God.

Our God is great our God is mighty our God is strong our God is glorious. And it's written in the heavens when I look at your heavens the work of your fingers the moon and the stars which you have set in place.

There's the framework for our first question. And I have to say I've seen two prevailing responses to the eclipse that is coming up. One is I'm going to sell all that I have so that I might you know spend $500 on a hotel room in Moralton Arkansas to observe this thing.

And then you have something all the way on the other side which is it's so dumb it's just gonna get dark for a few minutes. I can't believe everyone making such a big deal getting dark. You know here I'll just tomorrow night I'll go in my bathroom and turn the light off and then I'll have there's an eclipse.

It's crazy. It got there was light and then it got dark. I don't. I don't believe either of those two are actually the correct response. You see it says that when I look at your heavens and he says the work of his fingers you don't build things that are big in comparison to you with your fingers.

When you build something with your fingers you think about a watchmaker sitting on the bench you know with this with his eyeglass in there putting the gears in just right these heavens that we've been talking about that that we cannot measure the length of the breadth of it's a he made those with his with his fingers it did not strain him in this creation.

When I look at your heavens the work of your fingers the moon and the stars which you have set in place. I am afraid that the pagan and those who do not believe in God are out shining his people in the appreciation of God's creation.

Because what should happen on Monday is his people should go and see the moon in its vastness blot out the light of the Sun and us to say my God did that my God orchestrated that my God keeps the systems in place that let us know that it was coming.

Look how glorious my God is. You see that Sun that you have to put on those dinky glasses to look at. Paul said that the light he saw from Christ was brighter than that. My God did that and it was not difficult for him.

And with framing looking at the heavens for us he then asks our first question what is man. That you are mindful of him and the Son of Man that you care for him. We look at the vastness and the greatness of our God.

It should cause us to ask who are we. Who are we. We don't. We don't like this question. Our culture hates this question except for maybe to answer it is I am the center I am what this is all about. Who are we.

Well mankind we are the main characters of the universe. Aren't we. That's what they would like to say. But they don't like this question answered in honesty. But see we're created in the image of God and we're created to worship God.

So even though we don't like answering it in on honesty we love to go places that make us feel small. I'd love to see any of you try. I want you to put it on on film. Or want you to video it on Monday around the time the moon starts to eclipse the Sun you have the penumbra.

I want you to shout stop see what happens. People who don't know the Lord still like to come to these places and these events that make us feel small. They still like to stand at the edge of the Grand Canyon at the foot of a mountain because there's something right about us acknowledging our smallness.

And now in the scheme of this universe we are truly dust. In fact the book of Genesis tells us that rather than us being the centerpiece and rather than us being what it's all about we are actually a lump of dust that God lumped together.

And what makes us special is not what we're made of. It's that he breathed into us the breath of life and made us a living soul. This is grace. This is wonderful grace. I don't know if you've ever seen the picture of it.

I believe it was the the Voyager mission that NASA sent that was supposed to supposed to be the first thing sent by man to leave our solar system and just as it was about to do so it turned back as it had a view vantage point of earth.

And there's a very famous picture. It's mostly black. And then there's a little bit of light in the middle. And then there's just this little speck. And that speck is earth. And people and thinkers have noted you know every love story lived out every war that's ever been fought every adventure that's ever been had happened on that little and I think he's called it a little speck of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

Who are we in light of God's greatness. Look at his grace that he has shown to these lumps of clay. Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You've given him dominion over the works of your hands.

You have put all things under his feet all sheep and oxen and all the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea whatever passes along the path of the seas. We're this this dust that God lumped together and breathe into.

And what did he do. He put us over all of it. Adam named all the beasts we were to have dominion. He put us in a place of honor in his creation. You you know that because it kind of we like to change the words to hymns that were originally a worm like me we like to change that to a match or something like that.

I don't want to call myself a worm. Why. Well because there's a hierarchy in creation and the worm is at the bottom and man God placed at the top. Not because of anything in us but because God is great.

Which is why David ends his psalm the way he began it. Oh Lord our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth. We're not gathered here. We haven't come because we believe that mankind or that us in particular are a big deal or that we're center stage.

We haven't come and gathered here because we believe we are great. We have gathered here because we believe and we know that he is great and worthy of honor and glory and praise because of his work in creation and the grace he bestows upon his creatures.

Who are we. I pray that this question will help frame what comes to pass in these next days. I pray that it will remind us in the asking of who God is and who we are so that as his grace is poured out upon us as his works are manifest and as he keeps creation moving as he wills we can ask what is man who are we.

The Promise to David of an Eternal House

So in the first question prompted by God's great work in creation prompted David to ask the question what is man. Who are we. But at a different point in David's life he asked another question that I hope will frame this weekend.

And it's found in 2nd Samuel chapter 7. You can turn there if you'd like to follow along David his fortunes have turned. He went from a runaway and an outlaw to being crowned king of Judah. There was a little scuffle.

God gave him victory and now he's crowned king of all Israel. Things are straightening out and he gets it in mind. Well all's left to do. I'd like to build the Lord a house and he does. What happens. I think with Christians a lot.

It's like we just assume if it sounds good we don't need to pray about it. Yeah. My grandfather was attending seminary down in Fort Worth Texas and they were having him and his wife four kids. They're having a extremely tough time of it.

They're about to starve to death down there in Fort Worth. And then some people from first about some men from first Baptist Plumberville came down and met with them and said hey we want it. We want you to be our pastor and to bring you back.

And my grandfather turned to my grandmother and said you pray. I'm gonna go pack David's talking. Nathan said yeah. I want to build God a house. All right. Well no need to pray about that. That sounds like a great idea.

And God has to correct David and correct Nathan. No no. David's not going to be the one to build the temple because that's what God wills. But even in this act of correction God's going to show eternal steadfast love to undeserving David because instead of giving him a slap on the wrist or an eye roll God gives David a promise.

2nd Samuel chapter 7 verse 10. God says to David. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them so they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more as formerly from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel and I will give you rest from all your enemies.

Now the Lord says moreover Yahweh declares to you. Yahweh will make you a house. David you're not gonna build me a house. I'm gonna build you a household when your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers I will raise up your offspring after you who shall come from your body and I will establish his kingdom.

He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son. David you're not gonna build me a house but I'm gonna build you a household that's going to last.

I'm going to be with you and your son is going to build my house not you. And I'm going to be to him a father he's going to be to me a son. Now if it's stopped there that would be even more obvious who God is talking about ultimately in this verse great David's greater son Jesus the one who sits on his throne forever and we will get there.

But it's not immediate for God continues when he commits iniquity I will discipline him with the rod of men with the stripes of the son of men. But my steadfast love will not depart from him as I took it from Saul who I put away from before you and your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me your throne shall be established forever.

The great worry of kings and what's out of their control is no matter how good a king you are you can't guarantee how good a king your son's going to be or your son's son going to be or your great-great-great grandson at some point down the line odds are there's going to be one loser in the bunch who ruins everything.

And I don't know if you've read the books of first and second Kings the first and second Chronicles I don't want to spoil anything. It doesn't go well. But God promises David that his kingship his throne is going to endure forever.

And he's going to do this through his steadfast love. And when his sons this descendants commit sins he will not cast them off as he did Saul. David's line is not going to have a moment on Mount Gilboa like Saul and Jonathan did where his kingship in his line ended.

But because of God's steadfast love David is inheriting an eternal kingdom. Now one way to see God accomplishing that is that every son of David would be faithful and his son would be faithful and his son would be faithful all the way down to the end of history.

But that didn't happen did it. So what's the only other way God could answer and keep that promise was that one ultimately faithful son of David would ascend the throne and never leave it that he would ascend the throne of his father David and perfection and for all eternity and rule and reign forever.

Either way we know. That's what happened in Christ. David has received this promise. He's received unearned gracious love from God. He has received an eternal kingdom and an unbreakable promise from God Most High David who had not earned this but was chosen.

Remember where David would be if it were not for God's choosing he'd be out chasing sheep because God chose him. He's where he is today. And but where God chose him because God chose him he has received this promise.

Though David was sinful he had received this covenant love. So nothing in David. And though David is sinful and guess guess what happens in a few chapters in 2nd Samuel that David doesn't know about but God does there's a great sin with Bathsheba and which he'll be a murdering adulterer who lies and covers up his sin seeks to bring as many other people that seems in with his sin that he can involve them in it.

And yet God gives him his promise an eternal kingdom. And this love of God leads David to a question. 2nd Samuel chapter 7 verse 18. Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said who am I. Oh Lord God in what is my house that you have brought me thus far.

This lump of dust is to receive an eternal kingdom. God's unfailing covenant love security the salvation secured by the very promise of the ever-living and infinite God. He has received grace he has received mercy.

And this causes him to say to ask who am I. And I believe that as we go throughout this weekend and we receive all of these things that we who have received an eternal kingdom ourselves have we not you Christian who have received God's grace and his mercy.

Not because you found God. Not because you thought after God but because he came after you. Not because God. You chose God. Because God chose you. When you sit back and you contemplate where you would be if God had not found you.

What you could earn if God had not earned it for you. Where you would go if God had not secured your eternity. It should cause you to say with David who am I after all of these things that you've received.

You know Christian if you live to see tomorrow that there is sin in your future that you don't know about but God does and yet his promises remain. Who am I. That you brought me this far. How can this be a lump of dust that is rebellious and fallen and sin sick and sinful.

How can this be a lump of dust given an eternal kingdom reconciled to God. David who am I. Oh Lord. That you have brought me thus far. Verse 19. And yet this was a small thing in your eyes. Oh Lord God how can it be.

My God is God. And he did not sweat. And he did not struggle. And he did not strain as he stretched the stars throughout the universe as he called forth the Sun by the word of his mouth. And it was he was never close to failing and redeeming his people from their sins.

Oh yes it cost. And yes the Savior's sweat drops of blood. Yes he was beaten to the point where he didn't even look like a man anymore. But God was never going to fail. Because he is God. How can it be.

How can it be. Well because he is God. And so what's David's prayer. What's the response. David didn't begin the kingdom. He didn't fight his way and conquer his way to the throne. He didn't earn his way to God's covenant love.

And yet he has received it. All he recognizes it's only because God is who he is. And so what's left to pray now in verse 25 2nd Samuel chapter 7 David prays. And now Oh Lord God confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house to do as you have spoken haven't done any of this.

I don't deserve any of this. And yet you've given it to me. Who am I. All that's left for him to praise God. What you do. What you said. You do the wealth no riches no earthly things comes into his mind.

He just wants God's will and God's promise to come to pass. What's our response. It's the same when it comes to our salvation and being welcomed into the kingdom of God brought into the kingdom of God redeemed forgiven adopted as sons and daughters of God.

We confess that he is God indeed. And it is he who has done it. Our salvation is not of our own. And it was not even of our own choosing. It was God who has done it all he accomplished it. When he was on the cross and Jesus said it is finished he meant it is finished that he did it.

And because of that we know he will complete it. He has done it. He has promised to do what you said you would do. And in summing up the first letter of John we get a similar sense of what's going on in the attitude.

Chapter 3 of 1st John we read see or behold. Look what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God. And recognizing what's happening here and the right questions who are we.

And more than that who am I to be called children of God. It is as if John anticipates the question. So he reaffirms. And so we are. I meant what I said children of God. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him beloved.

We are God's children now and what we will be as not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears we shall be like him. How do we know that because we shall see him as he is and everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure God by his Word has promised us that in Christ we have regeneration we are made new that we have redemption.

That we are brought out of bondage to sin and death and brought into freedom in Christ we have forgiveness. All of those sins that we have committed every sin that we will commit is washed in the blood and his righteousness is given to us.

We put on his righteousness as a robe of white gleaming and shining in perfection so that as we stand before God we are justified declared just. And on top of that he adopts us as his children. Your mind tells us to address him as our Heavenly Father.

And he has said and given us his word that however we are now that we're not going to be like this in the days to come. And we know this because we are going to see Jesus as he is in his glory. Remember the dinky stupid glasses everyone's going to have to wear on Monday.

We have to do that because we are not designed or built to behold the glory of the Sun. But God has given us his word that one day these these lumps of dust that he is redeemed are going to see Jesus Christ in his glory for who he is and we'll be able to soak it in and praise his name forever.

That may seem hard to believe tonight as we sit here warts and all. But we know that our God has said it and that he will do it it's not of us. And so all we have left to do Christian is say God do what you promised you would do bring about these things that you have said.

There's nothing greater. There's nothing higher. There's no more that I could ask God just do that. What you said you would do bring it about. And if there's any here not knowing I give you this call that you are a lump of dust and a rebellious one at that.

And nothing you do or say is going to draw you one step closer to God. It's rather going to separate you from him even more. Your hope is not in doing. Your hope is only in what's been done in Jesus Christ.

Join with David. Who are we for dust. Who am I. You're a sinner as bound for condemnation. What hope do you have. Turn to Christ believe in his son. And you will have all the promises of God because he has done it believe and you shall be saved.

Christian join with me tonight and praying his kingdom come his will be done. And praying God what you have promised. Would you pray with me father I. It's incomprehensible that you.

Would.